Jagdish Khattar takes on auto industry for restrictive practices

Jagdish Khattar, who spent many years as Maruti Suzuki MD running a profitable spare parts business, has taken on the auto industry for its alleged restrictive practices in the sale of spare parts to independent dealers.

MUMBAI: Jagdish Khattar, who spent many years as Maruti Suzuki MD running a profitable spare parts business, has taken on the auto industry for its alleged restrictive practices in the sale of spare parts to independent dealers.

Khattar's Carnation, which is a multibrand auto solutions provider, has moved to implead itself in a Competition Commission of India (CCI) enquiry against the anti-competitive practices of the auto industry. "I've always believed that Indian customers have to be given a choice," Jagdish Khattar in an interaction over phone told ET.

The application made by Khattar's firm, and signed by him, states that it is made with an intent to "protect public interest" and lead to better competition in the automobiles aftermarket to the "benefit of Indian consumers." Khattar joined Maruti in 1993, and became its managing director in 1999 before retiring in 2007.

Maruti Suzuki, India's biggest car company, operates a thriving spare parts business but is also one of the few companies to supply to independent dealers who repair out-of-warranty cars. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is inquiring into the alleged anticompetitive practice of 17 carmakers who sell spare parts at higher prices to consumers through their authorised dealers. CCI has said that the carmakers have been using their dominant market position to charge exorbitantly from consumers, even as companies have maintained that they are merely following local market practices.

After a year-long detailed investigation, CCI had charged almost every carmaker in India for alleged anti-competitive practices to swell their profits by circumventing ways to deceive their own customers.

"The prevailing practices have not allowed space for independent outlets to compete or survive in a closed market as companies restricted all component, diagnostic tools and technical manuals to their dealers, making them the sole option for customers for all service needs," the investigative arm of the CCI has said in its final report.